Medicare Contributes To Slow National Health Care Spending Growth In 2013

Health care spending increased 3.6 percent in 2013, which one CMS official says is the lowest percentage on record going back to 1960, driven by slow growth rates in private insurance and Medicare. Some Affordable Care Act provisions -- including the medical loss ratio provisions, Medicare productivity adjustments, and cuts to Medicare Advantage -- put downward pressure on health spending growth, according to a Health Affairs article written by CMS officials in the Office of the Actuary, though other...